When former U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1959, he was too busy to collect his diploma—he was already hard at work on the presidential campaign of his older brother: John F. Kennedy.

His J.D. diploma finally made its way to the family on May 18, when dean Paul Mahoney presented it to U.S. Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy, Ted Kennedy’s grandnephew, during this year’s commencement ceremony.